1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvement of network facsimile system that includes a plurality of facsimile servers and a plurality of clients connected over a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, network facsimile systems prevail in offices and play an important role in data communication.
One of such network facsimile systems is schematically illustrated in FIG. 20 of the accompanying drawings. This system is constituted by connecting a plurality of facsimile servers 91 (#1 to #n) and a plurality of clients 93 (#1 to #n) by LAN. LAN is one example of communication networks. The facsimile servers 91 are connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) N1.
If one of the clients 93 wishes to send data to a remote party via facsimile, it designates one of the facsimile servers 91 and sends data to that facsimile server. The client 93 also instructs facsimile data transmission along with indication of a destination. Then, the facsimile server 91 sends the data, which is received from the client 93, to the recipient via facsimile.
When the facsimile server 91 receives data from a remote machine over the public telephone line N1, it transfers the data to a particular client 93 who is registered beforehand for data reception. Reference numeral 94 designates a mail server and 95 a router connected to the internet N2. Electronic mails received from the internet N2 via the router 95 and electronic mails received from the clients 93 are stored in the mail servers 94. By logging into the mail server 94, the client 93 can receive and see the electronic mail. The client can also access the internet N2 through the router 95.
When the client 93 instructs facsimile data transmission, it should specify one facsimile server 91. Further, each client should be registered to one of the facsimile servers 91 in order for the client to receive data which the facsimile server has received from a remote machine via the public telephone line N1. Therefore, use and administration of the facsimile servers are somewhat complicated.